What are the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival in China?

From June 12 to June 14, 2021, SAILINGFLO WATER PUMP will have a three-day holiday to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. I wish you all happiness and health!

Next, I will introduce you to the origin and customs of the Dragon Boat Festival.

The origin of the Dragon Boat Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional Chinese folk festival. It is held on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month every year. The Dragon Boat Festival has been a traditional Chinese custom for more than two thousand years. There are many origins of the Dragon Boat Festival, here is one of the more popular ones. Legend has it that in 278 BC, after Qu Yuan heard the news that the Qin army had broken the capital of Chu State, he threw a stone into the Miluo River and died in his country. After Qu Yuan's death, the people were in great grief. In order to miss the upright doctor, they wrapped glutinous rice into the river, hoping that the fish would eat the rice instead of Qu Yuan's body.

Customs of Dragon Boat Festival

Eat rice dumplings:

There are many varieties of zongzi, and different festivals will make different zongzi. It is an ancient custom to make zongzi to worship the gods and ancestors. The main ingredients of zongzi are rice, fillings, and rue leaves (or tuna leaves). Due to the different dietary habits in different places, zongzi has formed a north-south flavor; from the point of taste, zongzi can be divided into two categories: salty rice dumplings and sweet rice dumplings. Salted duck eggs are also one of the delicious foods of the Dragon Boat Festival.

Dragon Boat Race:

In layman's terms, the dragon boat is a water sports event in which the boat is dressed up as a dragon, and then a group of people rowing together. It should have been a water sport that started to commemorate Qu Yuan at the earliest. The dragon boat was carved into a canoe in the shape of a dragon in the sound of the drum, and it was a team activity. Slowly, it gave different meanings to the dragon boat race. Nowadays, the dragon boat race is gradually becoming a sport loved by the public.

Drink realgar wine:

During and after the Dragon Boat Festival, the weather is hot, flies and insects breed, poisonous gas rises, and epidemic diseases germinate. The ancients believed that people get all kinds of diseases by eating whole grains, and the diseases are inhaled through the mouth and nose. During the long-term struggle with various diseases, the ancients discovered that drinking realgar wine can kill hundreds of poisons. On the traditional festival of Dragon Boat Festival, people would pour realgar into wine for drinking, and apply realgar wine on children’s ears, nose, forehead, etc. Hands, feet, etc., especially a king will be drawn on the forehead, hoping that this will protect the children from snakes and insects.

Wear sachet:

Children wear sachets on Dragon Boat Festival. According to legend, they have the meaning of avoiding evil and exorcising plague, but they are actually used for decoration on the front of the neck. The sachet contains cinnabar, realgar, and fragrant medicine. It is wrapped with silk cloth, and the fragrance is overflowing. The five-color silk string is buckled into a string, which is made in various shapes and formed into a string, all kinds of colors, exquisite and lovely.

Hanging wormwood leaf calamus:

Mugwort, also known as home mugwort, mugwort. Its stems and leaves contain volatile aromatic oils. The peculiar fragrance it produces can repel mosquitoes, flies, insects and ants, and purify the air. In Chinese medicine, moxa is used as medicine, which has the functions of regulating qi and blood, warming the uterus, and dispelling cold and dampness. The processing of moxa leaf into "moxa" is an important medicinal material for the treatment of diseases by moxibustion.

Acorus calamus is a perennial aquatic herb. Its long and narrow leaves also contain volatile aromatic oils. It is a medicine that refreshes the body, strengthens the bones, and kills insects.

Do you know Chinese festivals? Which one do you like best?